Reflections on Akachi Adimora-Ezeigbo’s ‘Snail-Sense Feminism’: A humanist perspective

Abstract

Snail-Sense Feminism is one of the Afro-centric feminist models
that target the eradication of male domination and female
subjugation in Nigeria in particular and Africa in general.
Among other contentions, this African indigenous model espouses
that women should adopt snail-like patience and efficiency in
negotiating their ways around and over “boulders, rocks, thorns,
crags and rough terrains” (Adimora-Ezeigbo 27) littered along
their ways when dealing with men in the very hash patriarchal
environment which they find themselves in. This study examined
the feasibility of achieving fair and humanistic living for women
if this model is adopted for the achievement of freedom from
men’s domination and subjugation of women in Nigeria. It also
examined the socio-political experiences of the time of our foremothers
who Adimora-Ezigbo claims were successful in the
application of this model in their interactions with their
communities. We further compared this exposition with the
experiences of the contemporary woman. In a bid to explore the
humanistic angle of this theory, some research questions were
raised as guides to this work. The study concentrated on the Igbo
cultural zone of Nigeria where the propounder of the Snail-Sense
Feminism theory comes from. Reflections for this work are
guided by the humanist theory.